2014-08-23 - Opening Shots: Deal Gone Bad
The jungle clings close to the little cove on Malaysia's northern coast. Though for all its overgrown wildness the men in Hydra uniforms there have managed to drive a pair of big truck through the rutted track to get there. Now though, those men sit waiting, eyes turned towards the water while others watch the jungle nervously, guns clutched close. Though for all their watching they don't see the two SHIELD teams crouched in the dark foliage watching them and waiting for the moment to strike. Nick Fury Jr. leads team one, made up of himself and a few operations agents in military gear waiting. He swat a mosquito and grumbles softly before he flicks on comms. "Team One here, Cheese, you in place? And Hill any sign of the house guests?" Hill ensconced back in the Helicarrier's ops center is the first to reply. "Satellite shows their boat about a mile out, they should be visible in a moment. Seeing the main craft and a couple launches for support." "Great," Fury says. "Should have brought more guys." Phil is with the second team, for once not in a suit and tie but back in camo and with tactical gear. Neither of which are well-suited to the hot, humid jungle. A rifle is gripped in his left while he flicks on his own comm to respond, "We're ready when you are. Prioritizing disabling the vehicles first to discourage escape." No doubt explaining the two marksmen with .50 rifles. "So let us know when you want to kick this party off." "Good. We'll kick things off when the boats land," Fury replies. "Wait for my signal and take them out." There isn't much of a wait. True to Hill's word the boats pull into view, three in total, a large fishing boat style craft and two smaller, faster zodiac craft full of guys in camo. Fifteen minutes pass and zodiacs split off as the fishing boat pulls close to the shore, one head back around to provide a rear guard, the second lands on the beach, it's men jumping out and bringing a long metal case with them, tossing it on the sand. Fury watches through is binoculars and when the case hits the sand and the two sides of the deal begin to talk he says "That's our cue, hit 'em Cheese." "Party on," Phil responds. Pulling up the binoculars he watches the three boats approach. Signalling to the two marksmen to ready themselves, their spotters giving directions quietly. When the order is given, Phil waves at them, each sending a heavy bullet straight at the engine blocks of the two trucks, and a hail of gunfire from Phil's group, providing suppressing fire for Fury, Jr.'s unit. Not long after this begins another two at the engines of the two boats that did land. Speaking into the comm again, he says, "Fireworks are on." Holding up his own rifle, the former ranger picks off one of the HYDRA men with a shot to the shoulder. The sudden ambush sends the men in camo and the Hydra goons running for cover. Leaving the metal case in the sand. Once cover is found though the men start firing back, bullets zipping through the trees in the direction of both teams. "Guess they're not a fan of fireworks," Nick says over coms as he tries to zero in on the chief camo guy, he spots him firing a pistol and taking quick aim he fires, a blue dot explodes onto the guy's forehead spinning him around and depositing him limply on the sand. "Delivery man is out for pick up," he reports tossing aside the stunner gun, and moving for his real rifle beside it. In that interval however one of the men moves to the leader's side and presses a button his belt. The metal case begins to move jumping and shifting under its own power like something is trying to get out. "Gotcha," Phil responds, squeezing off a few more rounds at the goons. A few more drop from Phil's shooters, but that moving box does not seem to be a good thing, "What's in the box?" Phil says over comms, "Because I'm guessing that it isn't supposed to be doing that." Phil takes up his own stun gun, setting aside his rifle and takes aim at the man who just pressed the belt button, trying to drop him since he clearly knew at least /something/ about that box. Taking his rifle back up, Phil moves a little closer to get a better shooting angle on the Hydra goons, using a very large tree as cover. "Yeah, that's not good" Nick says watching the box jump. One of his men takes aim but he pushes the barrel down. "No. Not until we know what that is." Phil takes down his man and then. Boom. The box lid flies off and lands in the sand. A figure sits up. Looking like something out of a sci-fi horror movie, a pale corpse like figure full of tubes, blinking lights and some dangerous looking cybernetic attachments. "Now, now we shoot that thing," Nick says to his men who turn their weapons on the thing that's climbing from the box and open fire. The bullets hit it and while they tear into the organic flesh, the creature doesn't seem to care that much as it walks towards one of the disabled trucks and causally lifts it from the ground before flinging it in the direction of Nick's team. "Should have brought Banner," Phil says blinking as the thing picks up the truck, "Yep, should have brought Banner." The bullets from the others do not seem to work so that leaves one option. Yep, a big ol' pile of nope. He speaks into his comm and says, "Hill, what the hell is this thing?" Phil pulls out a grenade and loads the underslung grenade launcher, which then shoot said grenade at this giant... whatchamacallit. The truck comes down with a crash into the foliage and sends Fury and his team scattering. Ducking under a log Fury, waits out the carnage then stands, "Check in team," he says. All but two report. "Damn," he mutters. "Yeah, Hill, what the hell is that?" "To be honest, no idea, but you were at the briefing, high-tech weapons, I suppose that counts. Directing to strike drones to your location for backup. ETA five minutes." "Hope we're around in five," Nick says. Phil's grenade hits the thing as it starts towards the other truck. It staggers back with the circuits in its side exposed, but it's not out yet, two rounds from the 50 cals follow each one hitting it like a punch, slowing it down but not stopping it. The thing picks up a weapon from one of the fallen soldiers and fires off a burst in the direction of the trees. Fury lifts his rifle. "Okay, I say we ignore the Hydra guys for the moment and hit that thing with everything we've got. On your mark Cheese." "Twenty bucks says we're here in five, this thing can only do so much..." Then the thing starts shooting a gun. Yeah, a grenade is not enough to kill it, there is going to be a problem. "Yeah, something tells me the goons are not going to really want to deal with this, either." He grabs his last launchable grenade and loads it. "Now!" Phil squeezes the second trigger, shooting the grenade at the thing. Boom! The second grenade hits the thing and followed by the concentrated fire from both groups. Nick follows it up with his own grenade as do two of his men. The thing teeters unsteadily before it topples over sparking and oozing onto the sand. Nick takes aim and fires off a quick three round burst right into its head. "Guess I owe you twenty Cheese," he says. The Hydra goons and the guys in camo who are still standing seem to have lost the will to fight, and are just as stunned by what came out of the box as the SHIELD agents. Which turns to terror when they see the boat begin to shake in a similar fashion to the box. The men on board are already jumping over the side to swim for it. "Okay, this doesn't look good," he says popping his clip and reloading. "Okay people, let's get the delivery man before this party really starts going downhill. Cheese, cover me." Then Fury points to four of his men and then sprints off towards the beach. On the ship another of the things leaps onto the deck, joined in a moment by three more. Phil retains his usual neutral expression and calm as they approach the cybernetic beast. "Well, at least it can be killed. And I'll just add it to your tab." He picks up his rifle again and sees the boat shaking, "Yeah, this party is over." Turning to his men he yells, "Suppressing fire!" And begins to send lead downrange to provide Nick and his guys some help. Nick runs like hell under the cover of the Phil's team's fire. The things on the boat turn their attention in that direction and leap from the boat to land on the shore some thirty feet distant. These ones seem different and they raise arms and produce weapons firing bolts of green energy at the men opening fire on them. Fury grits his teeth, this day was getting better and better, he baseball slides down to where the Delivery Man is, and begins to lift him up over his shoulder when one of the Things turns on him and fires. He is barely able to get out of the way, but the delivery man is cut neatly in two by the fire. "Damn," Fury breaths before he launches a grenade into the thing's face, blasting out its targeting. Another turns its attention his way and he fires off a burst before the thing raises its weapon arm and takes aim at him. "Crap," Phil says as their target gets killed outright, "Well, we had best get out of here before Hill nopes them from the sky. Bring the body though and that guy I knocked out." The agent reloads his rifle and begins trying to keep those creatures busy, "You guys with the big guns, ignore center body mass, go for the headshots, these things have to go down." One of Nick's men hits the one aiming at Fury, it misses and a second shot to the head screws up its targeting. Nick grabs the body of the dead Delivery Man, and runs for it while his men drag the second knocked out man along behind them. The cover fire from both squads cracking from the woods aimed at the heads of the remaining cyborgs. Once in the bushes again Fury hits coms. "Tell me you're drones are close Hill." "One minute," Hill says. "Cheese, time to get gone," Fury says over coms as he begins to haul ass through the bushes keeping low to avoid the blasts from the things on the beach. "Team One, get our casualties and head to extraction point one." Keeping the cover fire up, the SHIELD agents in team two are faring about as well as expected. When the call comes to get out, Phil responds without missing a beat, "Team two, to extraction point two. You know what to do." The man reloads his rifle again and begins teh fighting withdrawal to the extraction point. The rest of that sixty seconds is filled with laser blasts and flying bullets but then there's the sounds of engines overhead and then a loud shuddering boom that echoes through the jungle, joined by a searing heat, that sets the foliage ablaze around the little cove. The drones have arrived and dropped their payloads. "Good riddance," Fury says about the cyborgs. "Hill we got a containment team enroute?" "Affirmative," Hill replies. "Sat imagery doesn't show much left to contain though, which is good news," she says. "Though Dugan wants our prisoner debriefed right away, if there's more of these things shutting them down is going to be a priority." "Understood," Fury says as he and his team reach the waiting SHIELD jump jet. "Cheese, your team ready to go?" he asks as his men strap in after securing the wounded and the prisoners. High explosives. One of the few nice things that SHIELD is allowed to have and use. From the second extraction point, Phil calls over the comm, "We were ready yesterday. If there is anything left standing over there, it isn't happy." Fury snorts. "Yeah, tell me about it," he says as he straps in. "See you back at base. We've got some questions for this guy you winged, and something tells me this crap is just beginning."